


The Worst Year

by dizzy



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-19
Updated: 2012-12-19
Packaged: 2017-11-21 13:18:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/598204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzy/pseuds/dizzy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>750ish words of indulgent future-fic. General spoilers for… I’ll just say everything, though light on specifics and heavy on speculation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Worst Year

Kurt and Blaine are sitting at dinner with half a dozen or so of their closest friends in the city when someone asks about high school.    
  
They go around the table passing along anecdotes and experiences, each taking their time and giving some perspective. Casey was a cheerleader, surprising no one; Kurt interjects with his own Cheerio tale. Most of them were in some variation of drama or band or theater. Kurt shamelessly brags on the New Directions Nationals win, still wearing the badge of pride though it’s a relatively minor accomplishment in terms of his life now.    
  
Kurt excuses himself to go to the restroom and when he comes back and slides into his seat beside Blaine, Blaine is in the middle of saying. “-worst year of my life, easily.” 

[[MORE]]

  
“Freshman year?” Kurt says, frowning sympathetically. He’s seen, firsthand, the physical and the lingering mental scars the hate crime had left on Blaine. He’d even had to repeat his freshman year because of it.    
  
“No, actually.” Blaine’s eyes flicker away for an instant and something about it makes Kurt sit up a little straighter. He’s almost apologetic when he says, “My senior year.”    
  
The curious silence around the table tells Kurt that he’d walked up before Blaine had a chance to explain why. Their New York friends have been cultivated through half a decade of post-high school growth. They call Kurt and Blaine high school sweethearts, coo over how adorable it is to meet your significant other so early on and not let go. None of them know about the months of separation and infidelity, the high school fuck ups and floundering before they worked their way back toward each other.    
  
The conversation moves on, flows into another story and then another topic and then it’s an hour later and people are shifting restlessly in their chairs, waiting on change and credit cards to be returned.    
  
“Still want to stop off at the bakery?” Blaine asks, helping Kurt into his coat. “Personally, I’m full, but I wouldn’t mind some croissants to save for breakfast.”    
  
“Can we just go straight home tonight?” Kurt asks. He wants the walk, uninterrupted.    
  
Blaine smiles easily. “Of course.”    
  
More goodbyes, hugs and times arranged to do it again, and then they’re outside in the brisk air. It’s just a few weeks shy of Christmas, when they’ll board a plane back to Ohio for visits with their families.    
  
Kurt changes his mind before putting his gloves on, shoving them into a coat pocket before he slips his hand into Blaine’s. Blaine gives him a surprised look, surprised but happy. “Hi there.”    
  
Kurt’s stomach still swoops a little when Blaine grins at him just like that. “Was it really that bad?” He asks. “Your senior year.”    
  
Blaine looks uncomfortable immediately. “I’m sorry, I-”    
  
“Blaine,” Kurt gently chides. “You don’t need to apologize. I just... want to know. We never really talked about it.”    
  
“It was bad,” Blaine admits. He looks down at the ground as they walk, more so than he normally would. “I’m not sure how to phrase it. I don’t want it to seem like I’m... like I’m  blaming you, God knows you had never reason not to want anything to do with me.”    
  
“Blaine.” Kurt leans in a little closer, a reassuring press of shoulder to shoulder. That little ache is still there, but it’s been years since it’s felt like something with potential to overwhelm everything else he feels for Blaine.    
  
“It was just hard,” Blaine finally says. “I was a stupid kid and I didn’t know how to deal with having made the biggest mistake of my life. I was miserable, everything was miserable. It felt like you were moving on, and then we broke up and you were actively  _trying_ to move on, and I just... by the time we were talking again I knew all I could do was wait, but it was... hard. I wasn’t happy. I didn’t have much to be happy about, except trying to look forward to the future and telling myself that I might still have a chance for that future to be with you.”    
  
“Blaine.” Kurt’s voice sort of demands that Blaine meets his eyes, and Blaine does. There are a dozen things on the tip of his tongue, apologies and offerings and explanations, but what he settles on is a simple: “I love you.”    
  
It’s the right thing to say by the way the warmth and light sparks back into Blaine’s eyes and his smile, the way his fingers squeeze around Kurt’s again. “I love you, too.”


End file.
